Pacifica Tribune/John Maybury, Columnist, 4/8/14. "Wandering and Wondering."
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| Been there.... What about the integrity of our city? |
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| Forced rural town, what's the problem? |
Lots of new money is coming into town, while lots of old money desperately hangs on. There is plenty of friction, resentment, bitterness, and distrust. This atmosphere engenders a kind of McCarthyism in which groups that have nothing in common blame other groups for Pacifica's woes, demonizing and dehumanizing them with silly labels.
Reading comments on the four blogs of the apocalypse (Riptide, Index, Fix, Patch) and Tribune letters to the editor, you may have seen a "Gang of No" label applied to various local environmentalists and conservationists because of their principled opposition to the highway widening and other public or private development/construction proposals. As one of the aforementioned bloggers, and as a columnist for this newspaper, and as a member of the much-maligned "Gang of No," I would like to ask for a timeout.
| Gang of NO, NIMBY cabal blamed? About time. |
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| Infighting will continue until we get a better deal: fix what's left of the city. |
Okay, I do say "NO" to anything that I
think would endanger all this great scenery or all this laid-back
small-town vibe. To me, bigger and faster is not better. I want to fix
the town's problems as much as anyone does. I may not share the same
ideas as you about what is good for Pacifica, but make no mistake: I
belong to "The Gang of Yes." I say "YES" to slow growth, smart
development, small business, and green initiatives. From my deeply felt
opposition to bad ideas and poor planning comes a wealth of positive
alternatives and creative solutions. Now if only I could get the
powers-that-be to listen to me and my gang members once again, as they
finally did with the Tom Lantos Tunnels at Devil's Slide. That brilliant
and popular solution came from the very same people who are now
unfairly smeared as "The Gang of No." Read more, (the column includes additional articles).
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Related meaning - Playing a tiny violin. Answers.com. "Playing the world's violin, is an insult you say to someone when they
get whiny and sad. When someone is complaining about anything e.g. "I'm
so alone", "No one likes me!", "I cut my finger!!!". People respond
with, "Ooh, I'm playing the world's smallest violin." This is referring
to the sadness of a violin tune. And the smaller the violin, the sadder
the tune. When you say "I'm playing the world's smallest violin." you
are being sarcastic. The person is all sad and whiny, and you're saying
(basically) "I don't care how sad you are, what you're saying is
annoying! Grow up!"
Related definition - NIMBY. Dictionary.com. "Not in my backyard: used to express opposition by local citizens to the locating in their neighborhood of a civic project, as a jail, garbage dump, or drug rehabilitation center, that, though needed by the larger community, is considered unsightly, dangerous, or likely to lead to decreased property values." Urban Dictionary, "Not In My Back Yard; someone who opposes anything built right by where they live.NIMBYs cause a lot of things to not get done." NIMBY related definition - Merriam Webster, cabal, "1. the artifices and intrigues of a group of persons secretly united in a plot (as to overturn a government); also : a group engaged in such artifices and intrigues. 2, club, group cabal
of artists>."
Note: the above article appears as one paragraph, but has been broken into segments by the poster of this article.
Note photographs. Been there from Sons of Steve Garvey. Sad hippie from Carl Blemming, video 1:27 minutes. Violin from is case from Stereogum. Steve Bucemi violin mocking gesture from cdsalamander.
Posted by Kathy Meeh
28 comments:
Can someone please hypnotize Mayburito and maybe get him to dance around like the old dancing chicken.
The "gang of no" that didn't exist now exists.
That is a group of people I wouldn't want to be part of.
Patch is still a blog? I thought it got outsorced to the outskirts.
John didn't you tell me not to whine?
This sappy drivel is unbearable.
This gang of faux-enviros, NIMBIES, NOBIES and "I've got mine's." are destroying Pacifica with their self-inflicted poverty.
Don't buy this crap.
The grown-ups now have to come in and clean up the mess these selfish little brats have made.
524 so you can get yours?
Why is it that the people at the bottom of their profession, an out of work sign painter, a columnists from a tiny paper, a has been x failed mayor, why is it these people that can't manage their own affairs think they know better than everyone? Better than police, better than EMT's or fire, more than SWAT, more than engineers or experts?
921 They obviously lack your respect for authority figures of any and all types. Maybe you should keep an eye on them.
Don't forget the member of the "gang of no" who calls police and fire department members, "princess crews"
I could make the city of Pacifica lots of money. They just have to listen to me.
There's a lot of hate in Pacifica.
152 Fool moon? I agree there is hate on here, but not widespread. The most hateful stuff has a repetitive and unmistakable style. I don't think it's more than one or two people who are anon or switch to anon when they need to get nasty. The rest are just people with opinions and frustration and real concern at Pacifica's continuing decline. I do think the nasties have become more unhinged in the last few weeks with relentless name calling and personal stuff. Just my opinion.
152, "hate" you say, rather than love? Sure why not, well deserved. No thank yous to those who systematically worked to cripple the infrastructure and economic viability of this city, or their dirty deeds. But, "hate" has its qualification and limits. The NIMBY recourse is reasonable, support for significant development, and highway improvement as proposed.
Kathy I don't know about hate but I love the tiny violins.
And thank you for breaking this wall of words up into paragraphs. It was really hard to read John.
Hehe.
Locals you disagree with deserve hate Kathy?
That's a shame. The world sure has changed.
427, WRONG, you're making it up. I was commenting on the 152 anonymous comment, "There's a lot of hate in Pacifica." But that 152 comment may have come from you. And from there, at 427, you made an extended "shame on you", tisk tisk judgement. What does that say about you? Tisk tisk.
Most of us want a solid, balanced city, and don't "love" what the 35 year NIMBY cabal have done to this city. I said "no thank yous" to those who have crippled this city, and suggested an anti-hate NIMBY redemption.
Are you one of those who need that redemption, or was the message too subtle for you? No need to answer, because you know I'll just "hate" what you have to say-- unless its a "sorry I'm stupid" (meaning you of course) apology.
That's as close to kumbaya as Kathy chooses to get. Go with it.
Indeed that was me both times Kathy. I should have used my name, Alan.
So you've lost me now, but I'm a hobbit hippie no-good immigrant nimbie cabal-member kaftan wearing freak so I maintain a generally lost demeanor as my aging years continue my decline toward senility.
So enlighten me: when you say "Hate.. Sure why not, well deserved" are you saying you actually don't hate or you actually do hate?
And I'm not hating, but you seem very very suddenly sensitive to criticism. Perhaps you should write an extended missive in the Tribune stating why you feel the way you do. But of course that might invite hate so I suggest not, because you may not handle it.
Alan 737, interesting how you set-up your 152 "hate" comment to provoke response. Bad form Alan.
Only thing is I think of you as a pest, with commentary of no merit, so you're not talking to someone who cares. As 619 says, "kumbaya".
Wow Kathy knows Bob Marley!
Kathy you are more hip than I thought.
Kathy, I made an observation that there is a lot of hate in Pacifica.
I think it's a very clear and obvious observation, based on the nastiness of many posts here and elsewhere.
You've responded to that observation by essentially agreeing with it and saying the hatred is valid.
But now you're saying that you were provoked in to saying what you said, so I guess you're not really responsible.
And you reserve a special 'tsk tsk' and 'poor form' for me and call me a pest (another pleasantry to add to the vast lexicon of insults).
As I've stated here, the problem with the messaging from your side is the nastiness of it. It's playground insults. Remember that the internet remembers everything you say, forever.
I have almost no doubt that your side will eventually get it's way and you'll sit happy in the construction backup to Terra Nova High or the tunnel.
And perhaps after it's complete some of us on the other side will think it's maybe not so bad after all.
After all, Caltrans always gets it's way, with notable exceptions (thank you Think Tunnel!) and they're a pillar of honesty and transparency.
But as long as you continue to allow and encourage the vindictive insulting posts on here, that will be how your side will be represented. When those outside your sphere come looking for information, they'll see the hate.
I would have thought some of the nastier posts would be at least deserving of a 'tsk tsk' or 'poor form' from you but I know that message boards often devolve in to echo chambers and that's what I'm seeing here.
In my opinion you're doing your blog a disservice by allowing and encouraging it. It didn't used to be like this.
So I'm going to quietly step out of your echo chamber and close the door behind me.
I'll leave you to continue working your side up in to a froth of spite.
Alan.
Alan
Maybe people are fed up with the "gang of no" and the lies and the truth being twiste to their benefit.
The "gang of no" and the "ecology is our economy" mantas have failed.
856 Lighten up. It's a blog. On the coast. Growth and no-growth. Eternal struggle. One or two twisted souls who are real haters energized by any opportunity to hate something or someone. Lucky us, they live here. The rest would themselves be nimbys if placed in the right circumstance. Human nature, and it's human nature to ask how the hell did this happen? Particularly when it happened right in front of you.
Alan 856, the city has been impacted by NIMBY governance "solutions" for 30 years. Anti-city infrastructure policies have been the lingering "gift that keeps on giving". Most of you NIMBIES do not care, and would turn this city into default country, county land. We who live here are all vested, the issue is balance, but your indulgence has failed us, failed our community.
Your sideways "hate" argument/complaint is specious. Fortunately we have this forum to voice a more accurate view of what's happened to this city. You call it hate, I call it reality check (and also ditto the sentiments of 909).
About your voiced justification of the Devil's Slide Tunnel: 30 years of delaying a safer road through Montara Mountain, the expense and the lives damaged or lost are priceless. (Think about it).
1047 (possibly 856), when did we vote to turn this city into a park? That vote did not happen, but we did vote to build Mori Point. Yet, these and so many other takeaways happened "right in front of us" (your words). Many takeaways happened at an underhanded city level, that's why its important to vote for and support a controlling city council majority that is courageous, "bold" (as Tod Schlesinger said), and will move this city forward. Voting for nice personalities who mingle well with your schools, civic groups and clubs is not good enough (that's how we got into this mess in the first place).
Tod, also said swing the bat now and then. Don't stand there with the bat on your shoulders waiting for a walk.
Kathy 1047 doesn't know 856. When did we vote to create this Pacifica? Thirty year nimby rule means we voted about 15 times. Even a third-rate banana republic could have thrown off the shackles several times in that many years. We didn't. Must have been something a whole lot of Pacificans liked about nimby rule. Old habits die hard. What we have in office now comes directly from the old nimby/hippie DNA pool--other than Stone and to a much much lesser degree O'Neill. It'll take the election of 3 or 4
openly pro-growth, ready to rock this boat, candidates before anyone can correctly declare a sea-change in Pacifica. They'll come out when it's safe, ie, when they're reasonably sure of victory.
Kathy, I think this council can match any previous council on the "underhanded" scale. And this one hasn't had as much time in office. They just had great mentors. Underhanded is part of politics. The smarter politicians see the petty obstacles, get frustrated, cut corners, become egomaniacs, and pretty soon they're as underhanded as the ones they replaced. Next!
Quoting Schlesinger. How scary is that?
5:41
Tod, comes to city council with stone cold lead pipe facts.
The nominees,nimbys, hippies and gang of no, twist facts, lie and make things up.
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